


Cantera: A Foundation Story-Part 8

by Zurrunba



Series: Cantera [8]
Category: Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Genre: Alternate Universe - SCP Foundation, Cantera, Fillian Empire, Galactic Empire, Gen, King Hiero - Freeform, M/M, Science Fiction, galaxy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:49:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25287844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zurrunba/pseuds/Zurrunba
Summary: The Galactic Empire has fallen, with kings, tyrants, and other rulers scrambling to seize power in systems across the galaxy. One such ruler is the Tyrant of Fillia, who thirty years before had crushed a rebellion from the planet Cantera, leaving desolation in its wake. Now the people of Cantera just wish to get on with their lives, but then from somewhere the tyrant gets wind that perhaps things weren't as calm and docile on that planet as the King of Cantera portrayed.King Hiero and Queen Moira start to work out plans to stop the traitor Tonya and ferret out the last of those who secretly try to undermine them at home. In the meantime all eyes are focused on the Fillian Empire's home world that is still rocked with civil war after the death of the Tyrant Yth. What happens there would have a major impact on the other planets under its rule; especially Cantera.
Series: Cantera [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1605262
Kudos: 1





	Cantera: A Foundation Story-Part 8

Counselor Tical, the administrator over food, agriculture, and some parts of interstellar trade for the planet Cantera handed over a report to King Hiero for his inspection. The expression on the counselor’s face made it clear that he had a few questions about some of the activities he’d been made aware of.

“Your Grace,” Tical began, “Could I have you confirm whether or not the queen is the one accessing these resources and conducting these activities?” It was clear from the look on his face that there were a few things that rose a few eyebrows. 

Moira, the Queen of Cantera as of a couple weeks before, had been given almost total free reign with the resources she needed in order to achieve several objectives that she and the king had. There had been several attempts on the king’s life and several infiltrations of spies from many factions within the Fillian Empire, and the queen was working with her contacts to reverse the damage. Being a daughter and heir to the wealthiest merchant family of Cantera she knew quite a few people the king didn’t that she could reach out to, so long as it remained outside the scope of the planet’s authorities. 

Scanning through the items on the list he mentally confirmed all the different aliases that she said she’d be using to interact with her contacts. They didn’t want to leave a paper trail with the queen’s name stamped on it. She would change the names so that certain ones were only used for specific types of items on specific days, that way it would also prevent anyone else from trying to use them if they didn’t know the pattern. Moira had certainly gotten busy with things since getting access to the resources. A lot of credits were being shoveled out, but at present he wasn’t concerned. She knew her way around the webs of the markets and he’d leave things to her discretion.

“Yes, these are legitimate charges and acquisitions,” the king said. “Don’t forget we’re trying to hunt down Tonya Theor, and that will involve a lot of work through back channels.”

“Of course, your Grace,” was his reply. “One more thing. This may be more along the lines of Grij’s sphere of work, but how strong do you think the Fillian Empire’s hold is on its outer system near Yllul? I’m getting some conflicting information about the governments there as it relates to our trade treaties.”

As officially part of the Fillian Empire Cantera had a lot of trade across most planets that Fillia claimed as their own. With the death of the tyrant and the chaos on their home world, it might not be long before the fabric that held this empire together would fail, and at a time when Cantera was least prepared for it to happen. If Yllul were to strike at that weak point and capture the Fillian home world with its neighboring systems, Cantera might break free for a time, but their strength would be no match for any kind of full attack by Yllul with its newly acquired power.

“I’ll see what I can find out about those border areas. At the moment the Fillian fleet hasn’t splintered off to fight among themselves. At least not yet. As you’ve said you might have quicker results speaking with Grij.”

As he headed out of the counselor’s office, he thought about the items on the list that Tical had shown him. Some of them certainly could bring out a lot of questions as to why anyone in the palace could legitimately purchase or commandeer it. If he hadn’t seen Moira’s coded marks, he might’ve been tempted to mark them as unverified. At least she hadn’t requested the use of any of the fleet other than the scouting vessels. He’d been assured that there were other plans about how to move things where they needed to go. Either they were vessels that belonged to her trading family Telliar, or her money was being used for recruiting.

Shaking his head, he decided to head for his main office to evaluate any kind of news on the Fillian Empire monitors. The news broadcasts were all over the place with their stories about the civil strife on the empire’s home world. There were three factions fighting for control of the planet now that their Tyrant Yth had been killed by a strange fleet of ships a couple days before. That fleet had been partially made up of Canteran ships seized by his nephew’s wife just before she disappeared. It was interesting that each of the three factions appeared to have a couple media outlets sympathetic to their cause. One got a whole bunch of garbled reports where it was impossible to really know what was happening, at least to the untrained eye. It was possible to weed out facts here and there by combining the sources, and also by using other sources he had access to on the planet. Likely Moira had a lot of her own as well, but he wasn’t going to bother his wife about it just yet. 

Three factions controlled three parts of the palace. Then those same three factions controlled their own sections of the planet. It looked like they were at a draw for the time being. What people were apparently waiting for was whether the other planets would be taking sides. Hiero sure hoped they didn’t. If they did Cantera would have to start making plans to mark their own territory. With Duran under their influence there were nine other logical planets to reach out to and make arrangements to bring them back the way they’d been during the prior revolt. 

The name of General Firon kept popping up in the news from all sides, some for him and others against him. Apparently, he’d been the tyrant’s intended successor, though it was doubtful Yth had planned him to take over so soon. This general had moved fast to consolidate his power, but as far as the planet was concerned it remained divided. One thing that was noticeable was how he’d managed to keep the fleet from coming in to take a side. The ones calling themselves republicans had control of most communications, but with some of the media on the side of each, this general had gotten word to the fleet with his message. The media wasn’t divulging what the message was. He decided to send out a couple feelers to his sources to see what kinds of things were being discussed in those groups. It would be really interesting to know what was happening with the party that wished to put their own tyrant in place. It was the most closely knit, and possibly most dangerous of the three.

He got up from the computer and started pacing around the room. The actions to take would need to be done fast. First, he’d send his feelers out to their former allied planets; then see what else he could find second hand from Fillia itself. Anything else he’d have to go over with Moira because he didn’t want to get in the way of her two main missions she’d taken up. Making a mental note about these things he decided to talk with Counselor Oris to make sure that the current events hadn’t caused a dent in their manufacturing.  
________________________-

Four ships crossed into the Rhea Alta system, which neighbored that of Cantera. In this system there wasn’t a single habitable planet, but what it did have was a mining station that orbited one of the outer planets. Until recently the Fillian tyrant had been making it into a military base unknown to everyone, until King Hiero had been made aware of it, and had it taken out in a way to leave no trace as to who might’ve attacked it. As far as anyone knew it had succeeded. Now under the queen’s orders another scouting mission had been sent there. Though everyone on that base was dead, there could be things in the station’s databases that could enlighten them on what things Fillia and its various factions had going before the tyrant’s assassination.

The ships reach their destination without incident. A search around it told them that every docking area had been damaged or destroyed. Eventually they decided that they would need to send their people in with space suits with a small transport. When the investigators got onto the base it appeared that every section had gaps in it that opened into the vacuum of space. When they found the computer consoles, they’d have to create a bubble where they could pump in oxygen and work without needing their cumbersome suits. The other issue was making sure that they could produce some artificial gravity or it would take even longer.

Three hours later the artificial atmosphere bubble was created and a technician was placed inside to look through the system. Several of the computer had damaged or wrecked keyboards. To rectify this an adapter was attached from there to a data pad where the information could be downloaded. A lot of files were corrupted and others were stuck behind passwords and firewalls that would have to be breached. It was decided that what they would best be doing was getting everything they could on their small computers and analyzed on the ships. The download ended up taking about three hours, but under the circumstances that was quicker than they’d expected.

As they boarded the ship everyone was startled by something moving past the gas giant’s moon at enormous speed. The anxiety over it lasted a few minutes until it was determined that it had been a comet going through the system. Strange how people often forgot about the natural things moving through the universe when expecting things that were man made. After making sure that there was no danger from the comet, they got to work.

First, they sifted through the digital communications that the base had with the planets of the empire or beyond. They were surprised to discover that there were almost no communications from this base to outside the system, let alone outside the empire. That meant that the only way that it had communicated was by personal delivery. That made some sense when one considered what could happen if Cantera or anyone else had intercepted those messages. Then that would leave a personal currier, like the one that had landed on the platform near the tyrant’s palace just before being attacked. It appeared that the ones who manned this station had been attached to the tyrant’s personal guard somehow. Besides the guard several other groups had gone in and out on a regular basis. With a little more detailed search it was apparent that while the guard may have started this outpost, it had been infiltrated by people belonging to other groups. One might think that some of them could belong to more than one group. To those familiar with political intrigue the idea of hedging one’s bets in the case of one side winning or another could be understandable. 

Next, they decided to investigate the living quarters. When the official records may not answer all questions, often the personal lives of the soldiers could produce a good deal of information. There were over three hundred quarters for personnel on this base originally. After the attack only about half of them remained intact. None of them had any atmospheric pressure when the scouting ships first arrived. That had to be created as well. A few bodies were found in some of the rooms. The vacuum of space had killed them when atmospheric controls failed during the attack. They would have to do a couple rooms at a time because there wasn’t enough power from the ships to produce atmosphere in every room at once. 

One by one the rooms were checked. Many of these rooms that remained were sparsely decorated or arranged. Most of those stationed here likely had no plans for staying for a long time, so why waste the space with too many personal things? A few data pads were collected and quickly glanced over before being sent to the ships. Some of them contained journal entries from their occupants. Most of them had only been there for one year or less. They all were under the impression that they’d be there not much more than a year or so. This would account for some factions other than the tyrant’s being able to get someone in here to work its own plans, even if it was the imperial guard that kept being put here. No large organization is completely free of people willing to consider another side whether through bribe, intimidation, or just conviction of some other cause.

They then found their way to a room that at first appeared empty. It was a somewhat large box in shape with just one circular table in the center with four chairs. Nothing sat on the table and nothing else sat in the room. The investigators were about to leave when one of them had an idea. Using a magnetic instrument, the far wall was scanned for any anomalies. Within ten minutes they found something. Some kind of lock was built into this wall that someone was trying to keep out of sight. With the tools they had it was simple enough to undo the lock. It took a few more minutes to find the right kind of instrument to pull it open. Not complicated, but much of this the average snooper wouldn’t think of if he wanted to get through this door.

It was necessary to bring in a stronger light as the corridor had no working lights of its own and neither did the room at the end of it. If one were in a building on any planet this room felt like it should be deep underground. This room wasn’t big. It was about a third the size of the room that they’d gone through to get there. On the floor were several data pads, most of which were damaged with cracked screen and somehow their power sources had been disengaged. Those would be taken back to the ships. Then on the far wall, above a small table, was a digital chart of most of the systems around the Fillian and Yllul Empires, as well as others outside past them. This chart went as far as Gondor and beyond. On the section where Gondor was as well as a couple other systems was the symbol of an old imperial battle cruiser along with some small written words. Some of them were code words while others were names. Five system in all. Four of them had habitable planets, but the fifth didn’t. It might be that Moira’s suspicions were not only right, but more right than anyone realized.

“Gather everything you can here and bring them to my ship,” Captain Zurx said. “I want to make sure that all this means what I think it means before we move on to Gondor.”

Then he’d have to decide which contact on Gondor to contact. At least one of those contacts had obviously been compromised since his name was the one listed on the chart under Gondor. Of the factions which one created this chart? They’d have to figure out who ran this room and then work from there.  
____________________

It was a loud noise that woke Moira up from her deep sleep. At least it felt loud to her. As she looked where Hiero lay next to her he seemed to not have noticed. Nudging him she said his name; then she got up and put her night shirt back on. She then reached to the nightstand to turn on the small light.

“Moira, what is it?” Hiero asked.

“I heard something,” she replied. 

Slowly she took a few steps, the whole time listening for the sound that woke her. Then stood very still and listened again. About thirty seconds later she heard it again, this time closer. It could be the royal guard out moving through the halls. That was what they did, but usually she couldn’t hear them because the area where the king and queen slept was closed off from the main palace. They’d decided to move their bedroom to this spot because of the recent events to try and kill the king. After a moment’s consideration she opened the door slightly to look out. 

There was nobody visible in the dim light. No shadows or movement of any kind. She wasn’t sure if that was good or not. Up till now she hadn’t made herself aware of what the schedule and placement of the guards was supposed to be; an oversight she’d remedy shortly. Not sure what else to do she started to walk down this corridor to where the first turnoff was. Looking down the side tunnel she didn’t see anything, so she continued on in the current one. Hiero hurried up behind her, clearly not happy about what she was doing. 

“Are you wearing your communicator ear piece?” she whispered.

“Yes,” he replied. “Due to current events I find it a good habit.”

“Good, you’ll likely need it soon. I sense someone nearby who likely doesn’t have our best interest at heart, as he’s keeping himself hidden.”

She didn’t add that she’d heard a few things and sense some kind of emotion coming from more than one direction. More than one person was coming toward them, none of which were likely supposed to be there. From what she could determine one of them had entered their bedroom a few moments after they’d left. Whether that was unintentional or planned was impossible to know. What she did know was that these intruders were likely armed, while she and Hiero weren’t exactly dressed for battle. Their best bet was to get to a more public area and find security. For some reason security here wasn’t readily available. 

Swiftly she hurried down the side tunnel, hoping that Hiero would be behind her. The closest of the two intruders was bypassed, but there were other corridors where they could meet up with the king and queen again. She knew that something like this would be coming, but got caught by surprise nonetheless. There were still enemies in the palace, many of which were left behind by Tonya to further her plans. What better way than to take them out when people thought things were safe here. Once they got through this, she’d make sure that any remaining spies or saboteurs of their enemies would be dealt with. With her experiences she knew what to do to flush those kinds out.

Rounding another corner, the two of them found themselves at a dead end in the hallway. That was strange. She could’ve sworn that this section would be the same as the similar one on the other side of the palace enclosures. They’d have to back track and take a different route. She could sense a few glimpses of the assassins moving about the corridors, one of them was actually coming right their way. There was little time to do anything. 

The king was about to speak when she put her finger over his lips. This was no time for gabbing. What could they do in the amount of time they had? She hurried them down the hall hoping to reach one of the side corridors that would move them away from the coming attackers. As she’d expected, they didn’t quite get there before a man in the garb of the royal navy stepped around the corner with some weapon in his hand. When he saw the two of them he smiled, likely because he’d found them in what looked like a helpless situation.

His hesitation cost him. Swiftly Moira’s hand pulled out a small blaster that was hidden within the night shirt she wore and fired. The man was completely taken by surprise and fell to the ground. It wasn’t the best blaster in the world. It was designed to be something to be hidden well and used at close range. It was a good thing she decided to have it with her in the bedroom when this started. The king always seemed to lock his weapons away when he went to bed, trusting on the guards around him. Very sloppy.

“You’d better take that blaster,” Moira told Hiero, pointing to the assassin’s fallen weapon. “There’s at least one more person here and we both need to be ready.”

The king grabbed the blaster without comment. Common sense was common sense. They then ran back in the direction of the bedroom. The king likely would’ve told her not to bring them toward that dead end if he’d known what she was thinking. For some reason he hadn’t even asked her where she was going and why. Strange, had he actually grown to just trust her with everything she did? That was hard to believe, but that wasn’t important. At this point she knew the best thing to do would be to ambush their remaining assailant. 

As they came back in the direction of their bedroom Moira looked back and saw that Hiero was speaking into his communicator. Was this the first time he’d reached out? She hoped not. As far as she knew there was only one more remaining, but she didn’t want to risk being wrong with something like this. Not knowing all the guard arrangements in this palace, she didn’t know how long to expect help to come. Some of those guards could also already be dead; taken out before moving in to deal with the foolish royal couple going through their honey-moon stage of marriage, if royal couples ever had such things. 

They finally made it back to their room again and slipped inside. The king hurried over to the computer that sat on one of the tables in the room. Likely he was going to try and activate the cameras to see if they can determine anything. The way these people had so smoothly slipped through defenses told her that they had to be wearing sensors that kept them from being visible on most such sensors. That meant that there was a connection high up in the ministry or military. Tonya could possibly be that source, but she had a feeling there was more to it than just her. 

Calm, she told herself. Focus on the problem.  
“There,” Hiero said, pointing at one of the camera images. There was nothing obvious there at first, but then Moira looked at the sensor readings on the bottom of the screen that mentioned temperature variables. Smiling she had to admire the king’s ingenuity. There was nothing visible, but the temperature alterations in that area made it clear that a human body was moving through that spot. “Whoever that is will be turning around the main corridor to here in a minute or so. “Security should be getting here in two minutes.”

“That means we have to take him out ourselves,” Moira replied. “One minute is plenty of time for him to bash through this door and attack us.”

“This door is rather thick. It would take anyone some time to get through it.”

“We don’t know what they have with them,” the queen replied. “Best to strike now.”

The king bit his lip. He clearly wanted to say something to her, but was choosing not to do so. The emotion he emitted was clear. The question, ‘What are you not telling me?’ was written all over his face. Best to deflect any such questions.

“Let me deal with this, darling,” she said. “We can talk later,

“You’re not exactly dressed for battle.”

Smiling, she replied, “When in the heat of battle, you use what you have at hand.”

Saying that she hurried to the door and looked through. At the moment nobody had come around the corner. Slipping through the door she sat down on the floor in the corner next to the doorway. When the man came, he wouldn’t immediately be expecting someone at this level. Raising the blaster, she aimed it toward the corridor she knew he’d be taking. She could tell that he was a few seconds away. There was nobody else. 

As the man came around the corner, Moira called for the lights to come on. The bright light blinded him for a second, stopping him in his tracks. She fired twice, the first time hitting him in the chest; the next beam hit him in the head. He was dead before he hit the floor.

She sat there alone for a few seconds, staring down where the man had fallen. It was several seconds before the first guard showed up. Quickly she explained what had happened before going back into the bedroom. After saying a few things to Hiero she sat down on the bed as he ran out to speak with the guards. He would want to find out what had happened with the people who were supposed to be guarding this area. 

When he returned, he saw where she was laying on the bed and came forward. At this time, she was thinking through everything, trying to determine what they should be doing next. It wasn’t until he sat on the bed next to her that she was brought out of her broodings.

“Back in the corridors, how did you know where those assassins were?” Hiero asked.

How should she answer that?

“I have a sense about things when people are nearby, especially when their hostile. I can’t really explain it. Just take my word for it.”

Clearly, he didn’t want to just take her word for it. There were questions in his eyes, but he decided not to press her on it. She was grateful to avoid any discussion about this for now. There were more important things to worry about.  
__________________

The general slammed his fist against the table in frustration. His latest attempt at seizing territory from General Firon had failed. It made no sense. Everything had been planned perfectly so that his infiltrators were moving right when Firon’s loyalists were moving between shifts. The section was weakly monitored as one not as important. From the general’s perspective that was a big mistake. Somehow these ‘loyalists’ had suddenly come to the same conclusion and through several extra guards in to watch the place. It had cost him ten soldiers who were caught in crossfire with guards not supposed to be there. 

“They must’ve been alerted to our plan somehow,” the general said.

“I don’t see how,” replied the scribe. “Only those involved knew what we going down and when.”

“Among my counterparts there are people who might have eyes where we don’t want them,” the administrator said. “We need to do another sweep to make sure that unwanted eyes aren’t looking down on us from the main control room.”

The general nodded. “Get to work on it.”  
___________________

“Altar 1 to Fillia-Tonya harnessing Winter Winds-3 spans to least variable. Qualify.”

Moira stared at Jaro the book keeper’s message and frowned. A cryptic message, but one that she knew the meaning of all too well. Jaro’s message essentially said that Tonya would be making her move toward Fillia within the next three weeks. At present the woman was on the planet Almior (smugglers used Altar 1 as a code name when referring to it) and was planning on using it as her spring board for her coup attempt. That could be said to be less imaginative than one would expect from someone desiring to take over the empire, or any chunk of it. Almior had been where a couple coups had originated in the past, only one of which had succeeded. It all depended on what Tonya’s ultimate goal was.

What should they do about this? Almior was closer to the Fillian side of the empire. Unlike Rhea Alta, there were a lot of imperial outlets between where Cantera’s influence ended and that under direct Fillian control lay. Any action would need to be a many pronged attack. Tonya would be keeping her eyes open for anything coming from her or the king. If she caught wind of Canteran movements, it was uncertain what she’d do about it. The actions Moira or the king took would have to have so many layers that Tonya couldn’t possibly thwart them all. The trick was making sure that the ones thwarted weren’t the most important ones. Then there was the issue of the ships Tonya had at her disposal to consider. 

After reading some information she was able to pull up on the planet Almior. Everything there was how she remembered it from her experience years before. She got up and headed for her and the king’s bedroom. Likely he would be trying to get some sleep. This would likely disturb any such notions, at least for tonight.  
______________________

The imperial palace of Fillia was rocked by another explosion, and it was followed by some activity on the far side of the planet. Members of the republican faction found themselves thrown back, losing two of their positions to the rebel tyrant’s people. They hadn’t been prepared, as their informant they’d managed to get inside the organization had been silent for several days. That should’ve been a sign. It was uncertain if the contact had been eliminated through death or if he’d decided to betray them. Now they could only scramble to repair the damage.

It took two days of fighting for any decision to be made. The republicans had stopped the bleeding after losing two sections. They might’ve lost more, but Firon had taken advantage of this to make a strike of his own. The rebel tyrant group ended up lose one of their areas quickly, but managed to hold onto the rest. Outside the huge palace the attempt at seizing the sections controlled by the republicans managed to push back the rebel’s attack and then go on the offensive. They didn’t gain much, but the rebel tyrant’s faction was exhausted.

Stalemate once again. But this time something else happened. From one of the planets not far from Fillia three ships arrived in orbit around the home world. Who these ships took orders from nobody knew. At least nobody on the planet surface. That was partly because only the republicans had interstellar communication ability that anyone knew of. So, what were they doing there? Had Firon somehow ordered them in? Up to this point the tyrant Yth’s heir hadn’t managed to bring any help from outside the system. Surely such force would’ve come long before now if he’d been able to convince the navy to take his side.  
________________________

“Grij, I have a job that needs doing, and I want you to arrange it,” the king said.

The defense minister looked back at the king and at the empty chair next to him. He was clearly surprised at Moira’s absence when making any of these kinds of activities under the current circumstances. Hiero wasn’t sure himself why he hadn’t brought her to the interview, just that he wanted something arranged that looked like only his doing. 

“What kind of job are you referring to?” Grij asked.

“I have intelligence that may point to where Tonya is hiding. I want confirmation of it and a logistical analysis. I don’t want to send in any ships to take her out if I don’t know what we’re up against.”

“May I ask why the queen isn’t the one arranging this with her people? She has a lot of contacts that I don’t and can be more effective.”

“Potentially more effective,” the king said, “but not always the most trustworthy.” The man was right in that respect, but he had to be absolutely sure of what came his way so he could immediately act. The action to take would be the tricky part. He couldn’t attack Almior itself without it being a disaster for him. The planet was much closer to Fillia than Cantera. Tonya’s rebel fleet was another story. Once word got back to him about the fleet and his nephew’s wife, he could then act.

The counselor nodded. There was nothing more to explain as it related to the people Moira worked with and those the king wanted to use. He knew that if all else failed there was still one resource that could be reached out to, even if the price they demanded was a little steep.

“These are the instructions I want them to follow as closely to the letter as possible.” Upon saying this the king handed the counselor a data pad. “Once word gets back to us and the situation is known, inform the contact to follow through with the list based on the results.”

Grij took the pad and glanced at it before nodding and accepting the dismissal. The king remained where he was alone for a couple minute brooding over the actions he was taking. The queen appeared out from a side door that most people wouldn’t notice if they didn’t know it was there. She then came over and sat down on the chair next to the king where Grij had been expecting to see her earlier. 

“Well done, your Grace,” she said. “I don’t think he suspects a thing.”

The king looked at her and then over at the door the counselor had just passed through. “I don’t like lying to him,” he said. “He’s been a friend of mine for a long time. I’ve already had a recent issue with him, and I don’t want any bitterness to get between us.”

Moira reached out her hand to turn his face in her direction. There was a kind of mischievous look in her expression. “Come now, your Grace. This was your idea once we had the intelligence about Tonya’s whereabouts.”

This was followed by her quickly leaning in to give him a kiss. She then sat back down in her seat looking at him. Her smile broadened.

“I just hope that your friend Jaro can be trusted.”

Turning her chair slightly to the side to better face the king she leaned back and moved her foot out to start gently stroking his leg. Without missing a beat, she responded, “He can be trusted here. He’s too recently had his feet put to the fire, and hasn’t really had time to think of a way out of the noose I have him in.”

That was likely true. It had only been a week since Moira had snatched him up concerning the booking arrangements made with Eileen Iar. He was likely too terrified of her to try to double cross her yet.

“Once Grij’s operatives are on the planet where we want them, your people will be ready?” he asked.

She nodded. 

Then the seductive actions Moira was doing were starting to have their effects. Her smile was alluring, as was the dress she was wearing. He hadn’t noticed at first, but it was quite a bit shorter than what a queen would wearing during any ceremonies or meetings. Inwardly he groaned. What was this woman doing? Of course, he knew the answer to that. The question should by why she was doing it. She was really beautiful, and she knew it.

“You sure choose strange times to be seductive,” he said.

“Just taking advantage of the opportunity,” she replied. “We seem to keep getting interrupted by bureaucrats and assassins.”

He couldn’t argue with that. This woman was determined to get pregnant. Was that what was going on here, or was she trying to distract him from something? With Moira it could be that or any number of other things. Instinctively he reached out and grabbed her around the waist, lifted her up, and then sat her down on the table the two had just been sitting in front of. Her pose and inviting smile were too much for him to resist just then.  
_______________________________

Tonya drummed her fingers on the table. Things were going how she’d expected, except for some people appearing around her that she didn’t know. Too many. More than she had ever expected. Someone was starting to keep an eye on her, and it likely wasn’t someone she wanted knowing her activities. It couldn’t be the king. She knew where all his operatives were currently. It was the queen she couldn’t predict. Why couldn’t she have died on that ship? That botched assassination had been planned as perfectly as any plan could be. The details on how she survived weren’t readily available, but that didn’t matter. If she could make her move before the others were ready, both Moira and Hiero wouldn’t be bothering anyone ever again. 

The problem that she saw now was how to get through to her contacts on both Fillia and Cantera to act in concert with everything happening so quickly now. Besides the mess up made on the ship the Tartan, the assassins that had been planned in the palace the week before was also expertly planned, but failed. How could these two get so lucky so often? From all the information she had, both of them should’ve been easy targets, alone and unarmed. Her remaining people had better inform her of what happened there soon or she may just cut her losses and betray them to the king’s authorities. At this point they had nothing that could possibly do her any harm.

It took several scenarios going through her mind before she finally settled on the one she thought would work best. Something that could more quickly distract people’s attention from what her immediate next action might be. With that distraction she could then move in and eliminate the spies around her, and then jump into her intended move on Fillia and then Cantera. Everyone was essentially in place where she needed them to get things started. There was just one thing to do.

Alone in her bedroom she activated the interstellar communicator that nobody outside her and some close associates knew about. This one reached outside of the Fillian Empire and toward one of the obscure planets outside of imperial influence; one on the edge of the empire of Yllul. Those communications were then relayed directly to one of Yllul’s generals. 

“Dictum, this is Tonya. Recommend date be moved up. Most effective if action taken within the next week.”

Sending that message, she sat back and smiled. Let’s see how those fools deal with this! It shouldn’t take long. She knew the whereabouts of the entire Fillian fleet, and so long as they stick to the plan the empire’s days were numbered. Just a gentle nudge from her ships should get the ball rolling here.  
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It was nine days after Tonya’s message that activity was detected on the Fillia-Yllul border. The boarder fleet had been on the alter for the past couple weeks watching for any sign of trouble, and here and there things didn’t look good. Several members of the fleet wanted to return to the home world to help out whatever faction they happened to sympathize with, but the commanders convinced them that if this border failed, it didn’t matter who was doing what on Fillia. 

Then activity appeared to stop. At first it was a sign of relief to those who watched the border. It seemed that Yllul had decided not to do anything while Fillia was going through its internal struggle. Again, many in the fleet wondered if maybe they should go to Fillia to straighten out the chaos there, then return once order was restored. The leaders paused, first looking at the border and then back toward the home world. The news out of Fillia was troubling, and if this fighting continued without result the rest of Fillia’s fleet could end up fighting amongst themselves. Then Yllul would go through unopposed. The fleet commander decided to have a meeting of the captains for the following day to decide what course of action might be taken. At all cost it was best that at least this fleet remain together.

Two hours before the meeting was to take place the fleet commander noticed movement again on the border. At first it looked to be something like trade traffic between planets. That was when they realized that there had been zero trade traffic through this zone for the past several days. That was very unusual, and meant that Yllul had to be planning something. Just as the time of the meeting was to take place the fleet was placed on high alert. At least fifty ships were headed their way across the Fillia-Yllul border. The border fleet barely had time to order maneuvers to try to counter this attack. The border fleet had twenty-five ships available to try to hold off the attack. The alarm was immediately sent out to any within the Fillian Empire that could hear their call.


End file.
